I turn and direct my gaze to follow his. That’s when I see them in the corner.
“Oh, my God.”
Rows of several figurines are lined up on an old wooden chest.
“Are those Legos? And dolls?” A giggle starts in the pit of my belly, but I hold it in. “Jackson. Why are there children’s toys staring at us?” He set these toys up. On purpose. Laughter bursts from my parted lips.
“Creative?” He cocks his head, staring at his work. “Or just creepy?”
“Definitely creepy. This looks more like a scene from a horror film!” My laughter provides such a release, and when he joins in, my insecurities and apprehensions lift off my shoulders.
There are tears in our eyes when we finally stop laughing.
“I’m kinda glad I didn’t point those out until now. That could have really ruined the moment?”
“I appreciate the levity.” I can’t help but grin over to him.
“And my original use of props?”
“I think we should leave the children’s toys out of any future escapades.”
“Future?” His smile brightens. “Does that mean we get to do this again? Will you tell me what to read next?”
“You want to read another book?”
“Yeah.” His nod is enthusiastic. “But maybe a shorter one? With all the sneaking off to read I’m doing, I’m bound to get caught. I’m not sure I can come up with a plausible explanation if Ryan catches me reading smut.”
“Smut?”
“My bad,” he amends sincerely. “Erotica.”
Why does he have to be so damn likable?
“Shall we?” He motions to the cabin.
I’m grateful it’s a short walk back, what with our current state of dress. Wet clothes aren’t easy to pull back on, and Jackson ignores them altogether, holding them in front of his body as he closes up the storage shed.
“I have a better idea. About the next book.” I should have suggested it sooner, but quite honestly, I didn’t expect him to follow through. Or for this to be so much fun. We begin walking back to the house. “Do you have a set of headphones? I’ll log you in to the library app and you can listen to an audiobook.”
“Audiobook?” He stops short. “You mean this whole time I could’ve been listenin’ instead of readin’?”
“Oh.” I bite back my smile. “Yeah.”
“You play dirty, Rosalie.” Jackson stoops down to retrieve my sex toy from the mud. “And so does Mr. Darcy, apparently.”
“He can take a shower with me.” I pluck him from Jackson’s hand.
“Lucky bastard,” Jackson grumbles. When we reach the back porch, he turns toward me. “Now, what fantasy can we bring to life next?”
I purse my lips together and consider his question. There’s no denying that Jackson and I have incredible chemistry. As much as it makes me nervous, I trust him. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have let him into my world of romance novels. I could answer honestly, but instead I decide to test him, just to see if there’s anything that might scare him away.
“How do you feel about aliens?”
He smiles. “Moving on to the extraterrestrial already? There’s no more human fucking you’d like to check off your list first?”
“Are you intimidated to compete with alien dick?”
“Should I be?”
